Sodrel talks history at College Republicans call-out

Monday night’s IU College Republican call-out meeting was more like a history class than a political meeting.

Guest speakers, including Indiana State Treasurer Richard Murdoch and 9th Congressional District candidate Mike Sodrel, addressed a packed Maple Room at the Indiana Memorial Union.

Sodrel spoke about issues such as drilling for oil, the economy and the need for smaller government. He also praised national efforts from Republican presidential nominee John McCain and vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin.

Murdoch recalled a past visit to the group in 1992, where he met with six people. This time Murdoch was surprised to find more than 60 at the meeting.

“I was thrilled to see this much enthusiasm,” Murdoch said. “This campus has a history of liberalism, and to see this many people here and fired up is great.”
Murdoch cited a similar meeting at a bar in Boston in 1773, where a handful of people discussed a possible revolution.

“That was the start of the American Revolution – a shot heard round the world,” Murdoch said.

The rest, he said, was history. But Murdoch said students didn’t have to change the world.

“All you have to do is change what’s happening on the IU campus,” he said.
College Republicans chairwoman and junior Chelsea Kane was pleased with the turnout.

“I couldn’t be happier,” Kane said.

She said she has been working to increase membership and reaching out to different groups of people.

“It’s been my vision to bring as many people into the fold as possible,” Kane said.
Murdoch and Sodrel echoed a sense of history and said that students were in a position to make some of their own.

Sodrel said that the Founding Fathers looked to history to examine other forms of government to see what worked.

“History is kind of taking society apart, seeing how it works,” Sodrel said.